


My Best Friend's Wedding

by Styyyylinson



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, I'll add more tags when I write more, Lovers to Friends, M/M, My Best Friend's Wedding, Other, The AU no one asked for, but not too bad, kind of angst?, time has passed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2018-12-07 10:39:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11621835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Styyyylinson/pseuds/Styyyylinson
Summary: AU. University friends Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles had a deal to marry each other if they were still single by age 30. Now, three weeks before Louis' 30th birthday, Harry announces that he's marrying a stunning 20-year-old named Kevin. Suddenly realizing that he's actually in love with him, Louis vows to stop the wedding at all costs. However, when he is appointed best man, things get even more complex.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why I've taken this on, but I watched My Best Friend's Wedding the other day and I needed to make it happen. Follows the movie basically until a certain point - definitely a different ending :) As usual, pop by and tell me what you think or leave comments below. Cheers! <3

Louis has been a sports reporter since he graduated from Oxford several years ago. With a master’s in creative writing and a slew of magazines vying for his attention, he really couldn’t ask for more. He has the greatest friends, a brilliant family, and a flat that anyone in London would kill for. He’s blessed to say the least.

“...okay mate?” The words interrupt his thoughts as he looks up from his plate. He’s sat at dinner with one of his oldest friends, Oli, who’s currently staring at him with quite a look on his face. “Seem kinda lost in thought.” Oli adds, spearing a piece of chicken with his fork and popping it into his mouth.

Louis shakes his head with a smile, wondering where his mind had gone off to. “Yeah, just...ehm, thinking about this piece I was assigned. Get to interview the Donnies in a few weeks.”

Oli arches a brow, nodding for Louis to continue.

“It’s the assignment of a lifetime for me - just running through questions in my head.” Louis lied. He was reminiscing on how wonderful his life had become, though he was caught up on the parts that weren’t going so well. He wasn’t cut out for love. He hadn’t found anyone that hadn’t been a quick one night stand since dating in college. It had been a long road of loneliness, and Louis was becoming a bit bitter about it.

After the pair finish their meal, Louis checks his phone on the few block walk back to their flat. They’ve been flat mates for a while, but he and Oli have known eachother since they were kids. Louis sticks his phone up to his ear, listening to a voicemail from a number he doesn’t recognize when his mouth falls open. Harry.

“That was weird.” Louis said as Oli unlocked the door to their place, quickling flopping on the couch and propping his feet up.

“What’s up? Clingy flavor of the week?”

Louis shakes his head, looking down at his phone again. “No, the opposite. It’s my best friend Harry. I haven’t heard from him in...in months.” Louis says with a smile, wondering what could be so important that Harry’s reached out to him so suddenly for.

Oli pops open a beer and hands one to Louis. “Ah the touring crooner. I didn’t know you two had a past.”

Louis arches a brow.

“The look in your eye, mate.”

The blush on Louis’ face almost gives it away, but he shakes his head. “Nah, sophomore year at Oxford we had this one hot month, and you know me...I got restless…” Of course Oli knows. He’s only known Louis for half of his life.

“So I get up the nerve to break his heart. I tell him there's this dreamy exchange student from Italy who wants to, you know…”

Oli knows.

“And he gets this... look. He says, ‘I knew I couldn't hold your interest’, which, of course makes me feel like the shallow arse I've always been…”

Oli nods, telling him to get on with it.

“Then he says, ‘But what makes me want to cry. Is I'm losing the best friend I ever had.’ And I…” Louis pauses, taking a swig of his beer and sitting next to Oli on the couch. “So I cried. For maybe the third time in my life. And I kissed him. And we've been best friends ever since.”

His friend looks like he’s about to say something, but Louis cuts him off, far too wrapped up in what he’s talking about and needing to carry on. “Nine years, we've seen each other through everything. Losing jobs, coming out, losing boyfriends… we’ve travelled all over, we've had the best times. The best times of my life, maybe. Just drinking and talking. Even over the phone.”

Louis thinks he can see Oli roll his eyes when he mutters something that sounds like kindred spirits.

“No, no he’s nothing like me. He’s like...well, he’s like you. Only gay.” Louis chuckles and props his feet up next to his friends. “He's the salt of the earth. Kind and loyal and generous. The one constant thing in my life, is he'll always be there.”

“He’s still in love with you.” 

The words are simple, but they sting all the same. Louis and Harry have been through so much, so many years and miles between them. He hasn’t thought about him like that in years. He forced it out of his system. “Maybe. But it never gets in the way.”

“There was this one night in London.” Louis goes on, remembering it fondly, a smile coming to his lips. “It was like six years ago, and we got amaaaazingly drunk. I’m talking like crawling around on the floor drunk. He takes this razor, cuts his finger, does the same to mine…”

“Blood oath. Bit weird, yeah?” Oli comments, leaning his head on the back of the couch.  


Louis laughs, remembering the moment fondly. “He says, swear if you’re 30 and neither of us are dating or married that we’ll marry each other!” He puts his hand to his mouth, holding back another bit of laughter. “I haven’t thought about that in forever. I don’t know what made me think of it.”

“I do.” He sounds serious, pensive even. “You’ll be 30 in three weeks.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Acccck! I couldn't help myself so I'm uploading chapter 2 already. I was going to try to stick to once a week, but we'll see how that goes - I have about 8 chapters already, so I can keep up with that for now :)

Louis is drunk. He’s had way too many beers. There’s no way that this can be why Harry called, right? That sounds nearly impossible. It can’t be what it means. He’s going nuts, and Oli can see it in his eyes.

“Play the recording for me.” Oli asks, and Louis does as he’s told, Harry’s voice ringing throughout the small flat.

“He’s desperate to talk?” Oli arches a brow, grabbing another pair of drinks for them, even though they’re proper pissed at this point.

“There’s no way Harry is proposing...he’s…”

“Only one way to find out.” Oli’s eyes widen as he reaches for Louis’ phone.

“Oi! I’ll kill you if you call him!” He takes the phone and runs into the bathroom, knocking his toe into the door frame before he shuts it. “Jesus, fuck!” Louis turns to the mirror, bloodshot eyes staring back at him as he hears Oli wander down the hallway.

“Bout to pass out mate!” he calls, but it doesn’t phase Louis as he continues to look at his reflection.

“Harry, I’m married.” He starts.

“Harry, I have two weeks to live.” He shakes his head.

Louis changes his tone. “Harry, I’m trying to be straight. Don’t confuse me.”

He nearly loses his nerve, but walks back out of the bathroom and into his bedroom, pulling his cell from his back pocket. He checks the time and it’s nearly three in the morning, which means it’s only six in LA where he knows Harry has been for a while. Louis stares at his phone for another few minutes before redialing the number that Harry called him from.

The phone rings until someone says hello on the other end. “Good evening, sir. You've been enrolled in the Obscene Call Of The Month Club, and th…”

“Hey Lou, it’s so good to hear your voice.”

Louis is momentarily stunned into silence, because it’s so good to hear his too.

“I’ve been calling for days!” Harry jokingly scolds his old friend.

“Yeah mate, my voicemail kept eating messages. I tried ignoring it in hopes of improvement, but here we are.” He laughs lightly.

Harry’s voice changes, sounds serious when he says. “Look, Lou, I need to ask you something.” 

He pauses, Louis holding his breath. “It’s something so incredibly important, that if you turn me down, I don't know what I'll d…”

Louis can’t help but cut him off. He’s going insane. “I just have to tell you this one thing first, okay? I mean this will hand you the biggest laugh of your adult life…”

Harry is silent on the other end.

“I was thinking about you, and I remembered this unbelievably fucked night we spent together in London, like a thousand years ago?”

More silence.

“I mean, there's no way you could possibly remember the…”

“Are you kidding?” The softness in Harry’s voice makes Louis feel like he’s going to melt. “I think about that night all the time.”

Louis is going to have a heart attack. He’s actually going to die right here in his flat, with Oli only a hundred feet away in the next room.

“But it's not why I called.”

Louis blinks. It's not. And just as a tsunami of relief begins to sweep away...

“I called because I met someone.”

Louis’ smile breaks off. Like a spine snapping. There’s something in his voice.

“Well...that's great. You haven't really had anybody since that nasty bloke James.”

Harry laughs, and it’s sweet. “You don't understand. I've never felt this way about anybody!”

Never. Louis sits down on the floor of his bedroom. Harry has never felt this way about anybody. Never. Not even Louis.

“And he's all wrong for me!”

“Well, somet…”

“I mean he’s a junior at SOCAL, he's twenty years old! Like when I first met you.”

Like when...Louis’ mouth is suddenly dry. He can’t seem to come up with any words that could help him right now.

“And his dad is this billionaire who owns the Los Angeles Dodgers and some cable empire, and you know how I've always been miserably awkward around those kinda stuffed suits…”

Louis is finally starting to find his voice. Maybe. “Well...sure.”

“But they're so down to earth, such wonderful people…”

“You've met his parents.” 

“Well. Sure.” It sounds like he’s smiling. Louis had always been able to tell when Harry was smiling, even over the phone.

Wow. Parents.

“See...We're getting married. Three weeks from Sunday.”

There's a knife in his heart. Suddenly he’s forgotten how to breathe. How to do basically every human function except stare at the floor of his bedroom and feel like he’s going to scream at the top of his lungs.

“Harry, it's the beginning of December. Surely you can't be getting married in..."

“Actually, it all starts tomorrow. It's one of those long weddings, with all the traditional events, and ten million people flying in from Madagascar and shit.”

“Aren't you... working? I mean, is that responsible?”

Harry laughs this time. “Well I make my own schedule with gigs. It seemed like a good time to do it. I can take a few weeks off for my own wedding, I think.”

“Sure Haz, of course.” Louis was being stupid, and utterly rude to his friend if it all came down to it.

“Lou. I’m scared.”

A straw to lunge at.

“Well, maybe we should talk ab…”

“I need you.”

So heartfelt. Louis could feel a lifetime of emotions welling up in his eyes. Maybe tonight would be the time he cried for the fourth time. Jesus, Harry...getting married.

“If you can't come...and hold my hand - I'll never get through this.”

Oh.

“Please come, please.”

“W…” Louis starts.

“I can't wait for you to meet him!”

Louis tries to hold back his emotions. He gets up from the floor and stares into the mirror and it’s like watching the end of his life.


	3. Chapter3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, thanks for sticking around! Sorry for the delayed update, been super busy with my new job :( It's short - but chapter 4 is getting put up today as well!

The closet, the armoire, and all the drawers are wide open. Louis has thrown two huge suitcases on the bed and is frantically shoving clothes into them. He fumbles with his phone and lighting a cigarette at the same time. After several attempts he manages to call Zayn, who he woke up the night before by calling his phone about a zillion times.

“You've reached Zayn and Liam. Brevity will be appreciated.”

BEEP.

Louis feels like he’s going to explode. He screams into their voicemail. Who even has a house phone anymore? These idiots, apparently. “IT'S ME AGAIN, WHY AREN'T YOU GUYS UP HAVING SAFE SEX?”

Louis picks up a pair of his tightest jeans, staring at them and throwing them into the pile that’s coming with him.

“OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, WHY AREN'T YOU INTERRUPTING IT TO ANSWER THE PHONE?” 

He tosses his cell phone aside, picking up a few sweaters and other items. He throws them into the suitcase and wonders to himself what the weather is like in LA. God, who cares at this point.

Louis picks up the phone again, still leaving a message for the pair - but mostly Zayn. “YOU, YOU, YOU! IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU, ISN'T IT??”

Louis clicks off. Checks his outfit in the mirror. Pulls down at his shirt so his tattoo is visible, a little bit of his collar bones.

***

Zayn and Louis are in the car on the way to the airport, one driving like a madman while the other tries to light a cigarette. Zayn glances over toward his friend, huffing out a sigh. 

“You can't get lung cancer and die in four days. Go to Plan B, mate”

Louis sucks in the smoke, letting it out slowly. “You have no appropriate sense of emergency. My best friend is ruining his life.”

“No, he's ruining yours.”

“Same difference. If you love someone, it's your duty to save them from themselves.”

“You have a real philosophy of life.” Zayn scoffs.

“It's called the Law of Love, asshole.”

Louis is tight enough to snap, and at the edge of tears. Staring out at the skyline of his city, clinging to his cigarette, as he eases to the curb.

“Why don't we have a drink? You could catch a later fl…”

“I'm a busy man. I've spent about a million pounds on this flight, got four days to break up a wedding, and steal the groom's guy.”  
Louis finally looks at Zayn. He doesn't say anything.

“We’ve been friends for ten years.”

“I can see why.” He rolls his eyes.

“He knows him maybe five seconds, plus he has billions of dollars, plus he's perfect, so don't go feeling sorry for Mister teen California.”

Louis softens.

“And don't go feeling sorry for me, you don't know me that well.”

Zayns voice is soft when he speaks. “I stand corrected.”

Tears stand in Louis’ eyes and he can’t believe he’s this much of a wanker. “I’m making a big mistake, huh?”

“Who knows? Maybe you'll learn something.”

“I'm gonna bring him back, man. Against all odds, y'know. Cos if I don't…” Louis sighs. “I gotta live with it forever.”

Louis jumps out of Zayn’s car before he starts to cry. He yanks his bags from the boot and puts on a brave face. The pair trade small salutes, and then Louis is gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok ok, this one is short too so I'm uploading chapter 5 too! ehehe >.<

The jetway is disgorging passengers into the swarming ant colony of LAX. Louis is lugging multiple carry-ons, trying to pat his transatlantic hair into place, nervous as a schoolgirl, looking all around, and...there he is.

Harry looks taller than he has in the past. His slender form and shoulders make him stick out, a boyish grin with a massive amount of curly hair. He looks gorgeous, sweet, and just dangerous enough to be irresistible. Worthwhile stakes. His face lights to see Louis, and he...

Well, Louis is embarrassed about it, but he essentially runs into Harry’s arms, shedding bags along the way, slamming off heedless civilians, to be pulled into those strong arms he misses so much. Harry spins him around, laughing like crazy, their cheeks hurting from the smiles that pull across their faces.

“Can you believe it? Can you believe I'm actually gonna do this?”

“Not hardly.”

Harry beams and turns around. Louis follows his gaze and there he is. Kevin Wallace is 20, small and slender, but he really does have a body to die for. His face is striking, not at all perky and vapid, but lovely and interesting. Worst of all, intelligent.

He walks toward them purposefully, his eyes locked to the man in his fiancee's arms. At the last moment, Harry releases Louis and Kevin throws his arms around the startled visitor. He holds him tight, with such genuine warmth that Louis can only, slowly, hug back. Harry looks on, positively beaming.

“This just makes everything so perfect.” Kevin says, his arms around a slightly dazed Louis. The younger man leans in close, trying to confide in him. “ll I've heard, from the day I met Harry, is Louis this, and Louis that…”

“Well, we're…”

“I think the best part of marrying this guy is finding you.”

Louis is so confused.

“I've never had a brother.”

Oh Christ. And he still won’t, if everything goes according to Louis’ plan.

Fast forward twenty minutes later to Kevin literally driving like a madman down the highway, and Louis wonders again why he decided to come. Louis is riding shotgun, hair flying, a total wreck, in the open convertible. Meanwhile, Harry is happily crouched on the little platform behind their seats, hugging his knees. The roar of the wind makes it impossible for him to hear them.”

“My heart's in my throat, here. Right off, I have to ask this monstrous favor…” Kevin starts.

“You need a few dollars?” Louis laughs.

Kevin looks wistful. “Dry. Just like he said.”

“Excuse me?”

“I can be quick. I can even be funny.” He shakes his head. Oh Kevin, that endearing youngster. “But I can't be dry.”

“Can you watch the road?”  
“See. Dry. It's in the delivery.” He shrugs and looks back to the highway. “This is a very presumptuous and burdensome fav…”

“...you want a three way on your wedding night?”

Kevin grins. “No, that wouldn't be burdensome.” 

God it was hard for Louis to not like this guy, despite his relationship with his best friend.

“My friend Alex broke his leg skiing on spring break.” He looks over and smiles. “Be my best man.”

All Louis can do is blink.

“You can't believe what it'd cost to bring in a temp.”

“Uh. How about promoting a groomsman? Someone you know for at least forty-five minutes.” Louis shouts over the wind, just as Kevin jerks the car to cut off a semi truck.

“The groomsmen are my only two male relatives under forty. Identical twins from Nashville, who are basically vengeful sluts. With amazing bodies!”

“Which was the disqualifying factor?” Louis wonders aloud.

“The twin part. I like to remain impartial in my contempt.”

It’s then that apparently Kevin seems to see the off ramp he needs and proceeds to cut through four lanes of traffic and risk everyone’s life in a heart-stopping nanosecond. This kid could drive for Formula One. Louis has to pound his chest to get his heart started again. He glances back to see if Harry has fallen out the back. Louis’ heart softens at the sight of the absurdly wind-blown man. He gives Louis a beautiful grinning thumbs up. He’s having the time of his life.

“This means I have four days to make you my new best friend…”

Louis’ eyes flit back to Kevin.

“And since I already know everything about you. Including intimate facts I'm mortified to have heard, but too envious to forget. It's time for you to learn about me…”

Easing off the freeway, he meets Louis’ gaze.

“Force yourself. To get personal.” Kevin smiles.

“Sounds like a plan.”


	5. Chapter 5

Louis has found himself in a very strange situation since coming to Los Angeles to see Harry. His real best friend has basically left Louis in the care of Kevin, who currently has him cornered in a suit shop. Harry is wandering somewhere within - that fashionista - but seems to not have the time of day for Louis’ moaning and groaning.

Louis looks down at his watch.

He’s stuck on a platform. A seamstress is fitting him into a sleek pale blue suit. There are pins everywhere, as she struggles toward a perfect fit. Continuously looking to Kevin for approval. Louis knows he has an arse, but damn the woman keeps adjusting things.

“If you'd rather the navy…”

Louis shakes his head. He looks great in this suit, and no one could deny that.

“I thought groomsmen had to wear the same thing.”

“Not you. You won't be comfortable unless you're distinctive.”

Louis glances over at Kevin, who’s sitting in a plush chair just off the platform.

“What else did he tell you…”

“...you hate weddings, you never go.”

Well, yeah...but that was personal for Louis. He couldn’t handle that shit. 

“You're not up for anything conventional, or popularly assumed priorities. Including marriage. Or romance. Or even…” Kevin stops, not wanting to offend.

“...not even love.” Louis says quietly.

The look holds. The seamstress keeps working, as if she's deaf.

“That's why Harry and I were the wrong fit. Right from the start.”

“He said that, too.” Kevin stands up and walks to the platform. He smooths his hand over the fabric down Louis’ back, along his hips. Communicating to the seamstress with his irritated expression.

“Well, I thought I was like you. And proud to be. Until I met that goofy long haired Harry…”

Some of the pins start to come out as Louis shifts in the suit. Kevin shows them to the seamstress.

“And then I found I was just a sentimental schmuck. Like all those flighty nitwits I'd always pitied.” Kevin leans forward. “Funny world, huh?”

Louis swallows. It is that.

“I need a smoke.” He states, and before anyone can breathe, he steps off the platform ripping the living shit out of the suit, right down the side of his pants. The seamstress' eyes flash open in abject horror. Louis, a deer in the headlights, looks quickly around at the evidence of his screw-up in six different mirrors.

Kevin just steps to him, fingers the tear. “It's mostly the seam. Let's get this to Carla.”

Louis struggles against the seamstress who’s telling him to step out of the suit right then and there on the platform. He doesn’t want to piss anyone off, so he shucks off the outfit, standing there in his boxers for everyone to see as Kevin wanders off with the seamstress. “Christ.” He mutters, walking back into the fitting room. 

Louis sits on the loveseat in just his boxers, lighting one cigarette from the butt of another. Suddenly, he hears an argument outside the door. He strains his ears to listen. It does sound like Harry and Kevin, but he can’t make out the words. He jumps up, dashes for the door, twisting his ankle before landing heavily against the door with a thud.

The argument stops. Damn. He opens the door a crack, sees nothing. He opens it wider to reveal a teenaged boy looking right at him. He sends Louis a true shit eating grin and Lou slams the door hard enough to rattle walls. He paces furiously, helplessly, arms around his half-naked self until there is a soft knock. The door opens a crack, and his blue suit comes through it

“Come in, and shut the…”

He stops. Because it's Harry who has entered with the suit.

“...door.”

So Harry does. Louis flushes and snatches up his own clothes, which are of course tangled in a heap on the floor. He attempts to cover himself with a tshirt. Harry seems both amazed and amused by Louis’ embarrassment.

“Should I turn around, or someth…”

“Harry, I'm in my underwear!” He tears at his clothes, making even more of a mess of everything.

“We've seen each other a lot more naked than this.” He smiles. “I mean, we were skinny-dipping in Greece, just as mates, less than two years ago.” 

Louis lets out a sigh at the fond memories. “Things are different now.”

Harry looks in Louis’ eyes. And nods, a little sadly. Guess they are.

“Well. I leave with two thoughts in my mind.” Harry walks to the door and puts his hand on the latch. He looks back, tentatively. “You're still a very handsome guy.”

The look holds. And holds. There is such feeling on both sides, Louis doesn't know what to make of it. He swallows.

“What's the sec…”

“Mirrors.” Harry grins.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay everyone - thanks for sticking around :)

Louis and Kevin seem to have a decent day after that, as far as Louis is concerned. They talk about the honeymoon, or lack thereof as Harry is going back on his small tour after they get married. Apparently Kevin is going to travel with him all over, which is interesting to Louis as he hadn’t known Harry to take people along with him. Aside from Louis, of course. He was always the exception to Harry’s rules.

Kevin is currently going back and forth with Louis about some of Harry’s less than desirable habits. They’re in the elevator of the hotel when Kevin brings up his snoring.

  
“How about…” Louis starts, racking his brain.   
  
“Smoothies in bed? I broke him on that. But the bathroom's a mess, he wears open blouses to dinner, tells the same, admittedly funny, jokes three hundred times…”   
  
Louis sucks in a breath.   
  
“...loves action movies, subscribes to Vogue for godsake, reads over my shoulder, can't keep track of his recordings that he makes…”   
  
A family gets out when they get to the ninth floor, but Kevin continues.   
  
“He sticks his tongue out before he puts a spoon or fork in his mouth.”   
  
“A trademark move, don't touch it.” Louis is only getting slightly defensive.   
  
“But he sure can kiss.”   
  
Louis deflates, but it's barely noticeable to anyone who doesn’t know him. “It's been awhile.  I'll take your word.”

“After two weeks of cataloguing all his faults, I made a command decision that changed my life.” Kevin says, pressing the emergency stop button on the elevator and jolting them to a halt.   
  
“I threw the list away.” He states, shaking his head. “He's not a balance sheet, so many wonderful qualities, so many faults. He's Harry, and loving him means loving all of this.”

Louis can feel himself getting itchy. “Do you get nervous in small confined spaces?”

Kevin takes a few steps closer, if that’s possible. “So it's sweet of you to be protective…”   
  
“Let me rephrase that…” Louis starts, but is almost instantly cut off.   
  
“But nothing ever could, ever did, give me a moment's pause about this marriage…”   


“Do you get hysterical in small confined spa…” He tries to start again.

“...except one.”   
  
Louis stops. Has he been caught? God, what is happening right now? He looks down at his phone, but of course he has no service in an elevator. He’s probably about to get murdered   
  
“Oh, yeah?” He asks.   
  
“You.”   
  
Christ.   
  
“You'll always be there. In his mind. The perfect creature he loved for all those y…”   
  
Louis groans. “Well, perfection can get wearing after whi…” But Kevin carries on.   
  
“I'm not joking. I had to face up to all my competitive drives, and believe me, I've got 'em.”   
  
“No.” Louis deadpans.   
  
“And the answer was so simple.”   
  
“I was gonna predict that.” Louis tries again. Clearly humor isn’t working.

“You win.”   
  
Louis blinks, not believing what he was hearing. Was it really going to be this simple, getting Harry back? “Excuse me?”   
  
“You're enshrined in his heart and memory. Unassailable. Which works out great.”   
  
“I've missed a step.” Louis states, brows drawn together.   
  
“He has you on a pedestal. And me in his arms.”   
  
Oh. Louis smiles, but quickly changes pace and lunges for the emergency button. He yanks it so hard that the fucking button comes off in his hand, a terrifying buzzing sound ensuing.

“Fucking hell, we're trapped!” Louis is certainly going to die here.   
  
“Ju…”   
  
“No, this happened to me once, almost...it was excruciating!” He starts banging random buttons, going insane on all of the little levers as Kevin just watches. Louis looks up and spots a little vent. “Hey, you could boost me up!” He exclaims, taking his shoes off.   


“You know how little air is in these things? I've seen statistics! Once you're trapped between floors…” Louis feels like he’s going to implode.   
  
Kevin taps him and points to the lighted panel. They’re at the penthouse.

  
“God! Then the door is jammed!” He takes his shoe and starts banging at the door, sending resounding booms throughout the area, as Kevin reaches forward and presses the door open button. It’s in that moment when Louis falls through, barely able to breathe, and crashing into a waiter.

  
“Oh my God! Look, it’s the groom and the man he can never live up to!”   
  
“That would be us.” Kevin says to Louis.

The one who spoke sticks out his hand for Louis to shake. “I’m Justin Peters.” He pauses, before an identical twin walks up.

“We’d be the vengeful sluts.” He smiles.   
  
“Have you sized up the groomsmen yet, Louis?” Justin asks, slipping an arm around his shoulders. “As the Best Man you get first pick.”

Luckily they are interrupted by a woman dressed in a finely pressed suit that looks very expensive. “Is this Harry’s Louis?” She asks.   
  
All eyes turn to an elegant woman of barely 40.  She has her son’s hair and eyes and slender form.  But the bearing rules half an empire. Fonda would envy.   


“I'm Isabelle Wallace, and my handsome new son scarcely did you justice, Louis.” She takes both of Louis’ hands, and he feels almost charmed. As if touched by Glinda the Good Witch of the North.   
  
“Now, my husband says to scoot you over to the ballpark, so you can hang with Harry.  But first, you have to meet a lot of really old women.”

Louis desperately wants to get back to his hotel room, or somewhere he can think about his time stuck in the elevator with Kevin.


	7. Chapter 7

Louis already has Zayn’s voicemail on the phone, trying to relay everything in rapid time before he gets to the Dodgers stadium. He hates every bit of what’s been going on, and how insane all of it actually is.

“Desperate measures! Do you hear me?  Zayn, are you the…”   
  
Static. He calls back again.   
  
“I don't know, hit men, whoopee cushions, saltpeter, something! This guy is impossibly impregnable. Even I want him to get the guy! What do I do?”

Someone picks up the phone.    


“It’s nearly 2 in the morning Louis. Just tell Harry the truth.”

“OH what a CONCEPT, Zayn. No.”

Fast forward a few minutes and Louis is annoyed. The Dodgers game is in progress, with the whole gang watching every movement. Baseball was always such a silly sport in his opinion. It was so boring and slow paced, nothing like footie at all.

“Which of you gents ordered two beers?” Louis asks, holding a tray of drinks that he decided to get from the bar. There have to be at least fifteen drinks on the tray, and he’s going to vomit if he drops any of them.   
  
“Wow!  Lemme give you a ha…” Harry starts.   
  
“Harry, please. You’re implying that I’m clumsy!”   
  
He stops in his tracks. The other guys whistle.

“Think of that. And as well as I know you.” Harry grins, shaking his head.

Louis just scoffs, attempting to get around his friend and deliver the rest of the drinks. Harry had always been the one to know him the best of all their friends. Louis continues the task at hand, flawlessly deliver drinks from the tray and keeping it perfectly balanced. Harry is shocked, to say the least. A tall man with rolled up sleeves is next up for his drink.

“Oh, this is my father-in-law, Walter.” Harry states matter of factly, Louis wasting no time in handing the man his drink.

“How are you doing this? You’re on drugs.” Harry states as he surveys Louis carefully.

“If he gives you any grief, I’ll have him skillfully beaten where the wounds won’t show.” The man smiles up at Harry, giving him a nudge.

Louis is quick on his feet. “I guess getting him whacked would be out of the question?”

“Under the circumstances yes. Charmed to know you, Louis.”

“Nice meeting you too, Walt.”

Louis watches as Harry leads him to the next person. “And this guy, you know…” He starts.

Of course Louis knows. He’s known the man as long as he’s known Harry, and since that point in time he’s basically been like a father to Louis, since all of his were quite shit until recently.

“Robin! It’s been years.” He sets down the tray and envelops the man in a giant hug, one to rival the one he gave Harry at the airport.

“You gonna be my boy’s best man?” He asks, the smile on his face enough to cause Louis some guilt about what he’s been plotting.

“Best everything, Robin. But I’m going to dance with you.” He winks.

“Dance?” Harry asks, outwardly astonished. “Since when did you learn to dance?”

Harry was right of course, Louis had always been a shit dancer. Swaying from side to side, stepping on everyone’s toes. It wasn’t pretty. “I’ve got moves you’ve never seen.” He arches a brow and watches as the other men in the box react to his statement. There’s an uproar of laughter from most of them, some asking where Harry found this guy.

“You’re an imposter! What have you done with my best friend?” He asks, taking the remaining beers from Louis’ tray.


	8. Chapter 8

Harry and Louis sit with their beers on the edge of the box’s roof, the game spread out beneath them. Yet they are along in the world, despite everyone around them. Louis dangles his legs and kicks the glass below.

“I just admire your maturity, that’s all.” He says, taking a long sip from his beer and glancing over at Harry. “I mean, there are people who would find that kind of perfection boring day after day...year after year…”

“See that’s what I thought at first. How can you like someone that perfect? There’s no potential for long-range livability.”

They both stare at the game down below, until Harry breaks the silence once more. “Luckily the closer I watched, the more the fault came into focus. Each imperfection its own adorable slice of vulnerability.”

He always had a way with words, that sap.

“Such as?” Louis wondered what exactly he found in his fiancee that wasn’t perfect.

“He’s too genuine.” He offers.

“Hate that.”

“But how can you trust someone you can never mistrust?” Harry asks.

The pair continue to drink their beers, not looking at one another.

“What’s next?” Louis deadpans.

“No matter how many times I leave the toilet seat up, he forgets and puts it down.”

“Endearingly absent minded.” Louis scoffs.

“My very point. Here’s another one…” He trails off, shaking his head with a smile. “Every day. He makes the bed. Every day!”

“Quite the little eccentric.”

“At first I thought it was to impress me, but he’s always done it.”

This definitely wasn’t the ammunition Louis was hoping for.

“Is there a coup de grace in here somewh-” Harry cuts him off.

“He admires….George Bush.”

Louis can’t help but laugh. “Waiter, check please!” He shouts into the abyss.

“He finds him...personable.”

“Can that kind of defect be passed on genetically? Ew.” Louis looks over then, and Harry is looking back. Of course he’s smiling the most wonderful toothy smile. Louis’ reaction shows that he thinks it’s for him until…

“Then again. He has a few good traits.”

Louis has no way out. “Okay. Gimme like...eight and nine off the top ten list.”

“First guy I ever knew. Who let’s me get in the bath with him.”

Louis can’t. He simply can’t hear about this all night. He won’t survive.

“And when I hug him. Even in public, I don’t have to let go right away. He lets me hold him as long as I want.”

Harry’s so gone for him.

“Nice guy, don’t you think?” Harry prods, wanting Louis’ approval perhaps.

He nods, begrudgingly. “Looks like, from here.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it's been so long since I updated - I changed jobs and moved and blah blah. Long story short I should have at least one more chapter up today. Love to all!

It’s the happy couple’s favorite spot in the city that they end up in that night. A slender woman is belting her lungs out to a gospel number, backed by three others who could each solo in a heartbeat. Is mesmerizing, stirring, and utterly fantastic. Louis is in a transcendental state as his buzz swims in his brain and watches the blue and green lights flicker around the club.

Louis leans across his beer to shout over the singing to Kevin. “How’d you find this pl…”

Kevin shakes his head, looking admiringly over at Harry. “Lived here my whole life. Never heard of it until our first date.” Leave it to Harry to invite someone out to karaoke for their first date...that little show off.

Kevin reaches over and tucks a piece of hair behind Harry’s ear. “He finds all these spots, everywhere he goes. It’s some sort of gift.” Harry gets a shy look about him, biting his lip. Louis secretly wished that he looked at him that way.

“And it's not just clubs. This guy always knows the best everything. The best guitar store, the best vegan restaurants, the best Horowitz record, was he always like the...:”

**“** ... always. The best dim sum, the best camping stuff…” Louis starts.

**“** Stop, we're embarrassing h…”

**“...** best valley in Yorkshire, best... heeled boots…” Louis has a knowing look about him.

“I tried those on. When you weren't looking.” Now Harry is grinning at Kevin, and he seems to like that a lot.

“Where was that, Florence, huh?” They had traveled all over Europe together, but some of the places were lost among the memories that burned so fresh in Louis’ memory.

**“** Firenze.” Harry corrects him with a wink. 

Together in the memory, Kevin watches the pair’s exchange.

**“** The Vespa? Me hanging on behind in the rain all night?”

“Till the gas ran out.” Harry laughs as the words come out of his mouth, that silly smile blooming on his face.

And, the first sniff of left-out, Kevin interrupts.

**“** I love Florence.” he states.

Louis’ eyes flicker. Could this be a teensy opening? He keeps his eyes, his easy smile, and his killer instincts trained on Harry.

**“** Take him there.” He says simply. And Harry does it, he nods...okay.

“I mean, now. He's perky, he deserves a honeymoon.”

Harry draws in a breath. 

“I just heard you’re not going right away. What’s up with that? You have to be off the road at some point…” Louis offers. The happy couple look at each other and they are incredibly awkward. Louis’ heart soars like an eagle, maybe he’s done it - found the weak spot.

“Uh. I'm not coming back. For senior year.” Kevin’s voice breaks through his heartbeat.

Louis draw his brows together. “Don't architects find a degree, sort of...an asset?”

The couple are still staring in each other's eyes.

“Well, the school will be here. Architecture will still be around. Right now…”

**“** I’m on tour, Lou. I’m traveling all over the US, probably Europe at some point in the new future. I keep picking up new gigs. It’s all really exciting.”

**“** The most important thing. Is being together.” Kevin says. “I’ve got all the time in the world to go back to school.” he adds sweetly. 

A few hours later when they’re all well and drunk, Harry is putting Kevin into the back of a cab as Louis watches on, a curious expression on his face. Harry is trying to convince Kevin that he could come with him, but the younger man is adamant about going to the twins little get together by himself. Kevin smiles lovingly at Harry, kissing him tenderly through the open window before waving at Louis.

“Enjoy each other!” He shouts as the cab drives off, Louis coming up behind Harry and placing his hands on his shoulders. “Should I whistle down another cab then?” He asks.

“Hey, cabs are expensive. I’m cheap, remember?”

“Sometimes. About the dumbest things.”

“The train’s right down the street. Unless you're afraid of the neighborhood.” Harry nudges him in the shoulder. Louis looks around and smiles. “I’m always safe with you, love.”

He means that, and takes Harry by the hand as they walk down the street. “Pretty cool guy you have there, making that kind of sacrifice.”

“What, leaving school?”

“...all of it. He’s leaving his family, friends, everything he knows. He’s putting his career on hold and seems pretty ambitious, driven, kind of pers..”

“In his way.”

**“** All to follow you in this crazy job, where you travel 52 weeks a year. I don't think he's naturally the... submissive type. Aren't you afraid he's gonna choke on this stand-by-your-man shit after awhi…”

“No.”

Seems like Louis hit a nerve. Which is promising.

“I mean Walter owns the Dodgers, cable sports... most guys in his spot would be angling to get Daddy to offer you some juicy gig right here in t…”

**“** He would never. Never. Even think of that.”

Woops. Pushed it a little too far.

“I guess you're right. That would be deceitful...manipulative...controlling...emascula…”

**“** I got the point.” Harry looks over to Louis without a smile on his face. His hand is suddenly free from Harry’s grip. This is an edge Louis doesn’t think he’s seen before. He shrugs.

“Still.  All's fair in love and w…”

**“** That would be a guy. I don't even know.” Harry states as they reach the train station. A rickety vessel rattles past. As they walk up the steps, Louis slips his arm around Harry’s waist.

“Forgive me, okay? I was talkin' crazy.”

Harry slides his arm around Louis’ shoulder. Pals.


End file.
